1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the estimation, transmission, receipt, and presentation of vehicle specific environmental conditions and hazards information.
2. Description of Related Art
Whether planning a flight, flying a pre-planned route, or altering a flight en route, pilots need up-to-date, accurate information on the environmental conditions that they are likely to encounter. Environmental conditions can include, for example, meteorological and other environmental conditions, such as, storms, rain, turbulence, lightning, icing, fog, volcanic ash, wind speed, wind direction, wind variation, or the like. Before a flight begins, available environmental conditions information must, at the very least, alert the pilot to the environmental conditions for the departure location, the arrival location, and the intended travel route. During the flight, the pilot must be able to access updated environmental conditions information not only for the present location of the aircraft, but also for the remainder of the intended travel route, the arrival location, and any alternate routes that may be used in case of emergency.
To accomplish this, the pilot typically receives environmental conditions information in the form of various maps, printouts, and/or displays that detail environmental conditions that the aircraft is likely to encounter. Some of the information sources, such as, for example, pressure or jet-stream maps, make the pilot aware of environmental conditions that affect the aircraft directly, such as, for example, wind speed. Other sources of information, such as, for example, radar reflectivity maps, or Nexrad data, advise the pilot of conditions that affect the aircraft indirectly. For example, raindrops, which do not affect the aircraft directly, appear as areas of high reflectivity on radar reflectivity maps and infer areas of turbulence.
The pilot must then compare all of the environmental conditions information that he or she receives with his or her knowledge, experience, and judgment, to determine a navigable course through the maze of environmental conditions.
To help the pilot to assimilate the vast amount of information, it is known to transmit weather data to the cockpit of an aircraft so that the weather data can be displayed and periodically updated. For example, in U. S. Pat. No. 5,265,024, to Crabill et al., describes a system for providing systematic, updated, weather information from the ground to the pilot. The ""024 patent includes processor and display systems that display weather data in map-style depictions and as alphanumeric formats. The ""024 patent also describes a display that provides overlays of mosaicked ground weather maps, lightning, and other Significant Meteorological Statements (Sigmets).
As an example of displaying environmental conditions information to a pilot, it is known to use enhanced weather radar to measure wind variations in an area ahead of an aircraft. The wind variation measurements are then processed to determine regions of potentially hazardous wind shear. These determined regions are then displayed on a map as a series of variable sized, color-coded pie shapes. The different color codes represent different intensities of wind variation, while the size of each pie shape shows an approximate size of the hazardous area. By understanding the color codes and the size variations of these displayed pie shapes, the pilot can take appropriate actions to negotiate a way through a hazardous area or avoid the hazardous area completely, without flying into another hazardous area.
When making flight decisions, the pilot cannot merely consider environmental conditions information in a vacuum, the pilot must also consider aircraft specific characteristics, such as, for example, the physical size, weight, propulsion, mode of propulsion, performance characteristics, and performance limitations of the aircraft that he or she is flying. Performance characteristics can include, for example, the type of control systems, control surfaces, the presence and functionality of any automated systems, and both the longitudinal and lateral aerodynamics of the aircraft. Performance limitations can include, for example, the aircraft""s maximum speed and Mach number, buffet speed, operational ceiling, maximum weight, center of gravity, as well as the structural and mechanical limitations of the aircraft.
Some of the aircraft specific characteristics, such as the aircraft""s size, propulsion, mode of propulsion, structure, type of control system(s), type of control surfaces, longitudinal aerodynamics, lateral aerodynamics, maximum weight, structural limitations, mechanical limitations, performance limitations, safety limitations, maximum operational ceiling, maximum Mach numbers, and maximum airspeeds are characteristics that are typically static and do not change during flight. Other of the aircraft specific characteristics, such as the aircraft""s weight, performance characteristics, center of gravity, vertical acceleration, lateral acceleration, speed, angle of attack, angle of sideslip, and direction are typically dynamic, and change during flight.
Furthermore, certain types of environmental conditions affect different aircraft in different ways and to varying degrees while other types of environmental conditions affect all aircraft in much the same way and to much the same degree. For example, storms, turbulence, icing, fog, volcanic ash, winds, or the like, can affect a large, jet-engine aircraft differently than a small, propeller-driven aircraft. In contrast, environmental conditions, such as, for example, ground terrain, structures, lightning, or the like, can affect both large and small aircraft alike.
To illustrate, a large multi-engine passenger aircraft might be able to fly, safely and comfortably, through an area of turbulence that would cause a small single-engine aircraft to be thrown about quite violently. However, that same, large multi-engine passenger aircraft will react differently when it is loaded with passengers, fuel, or cargo than it will when it is relatively empty. Furthermore, a private jet, with an excess of available power, can fly in conditions that a small, single engine, propeller-driven aircraft cannot. But, both large and small aircraft alike can be catastrophically affected by, for example, a lightning strike.
As a further illustration, the altitude of the aircraft may determine whether and to what extent the aircraft encounters certain environmental conditions, such as turbulence. For example, there might be an area of thunderstorms that can be avoided if the pilot files over the storms at a higher altitude. Unfortunately, the operational ceiling of the aircraft may not allow the aircraft to fly high enough to travel over the storms. Alternatively, the operational ceiling of the aircraft may be limited because of certain performance limitations of the aircraft. Additionally, the pilot of the aircraft may not be allowed, if, for example, the pilot is only visual flight rules (VFR) rated, to fly above a predetermined altitude. Furthermore, air traffic control (ATC) may not allow the pilot to make an altitude change.
Therefore, because the impact of any given set of environmental conditions is not the same for every aircraft, and different aircraft react very differently to different environmental conditions, the pilot must consider not only the present environmental conditions that the aircraft is about to encounter, but also the specific flight characteristics of the aircraft that he or she is flying.
Thus, a system that combines environmental conditions information with aircraft specific information and produces a simplified display map showing any environmental conditions that are relevant to a particular aircraft, improves pilot awareness, reduces the workload on the pilot, and improves the safety level to the aircraft, the pilot, and any passengers and/or cargo onboard.
Thus, in contrast to the example of merely displaying environmental conditions information described above, this invention allows the pilot to look at the display map without having to determine, for example, which color-coded pie shapes represent wind variations that are intense enough to adversely affect his or her particular aircraft. To the contrary, the display map of this invention only displays environmental conditions that exceed a determined threshold and can actually affect the pilot""s particular aircraft. Thus, in contrast to the example described above, the display map of this invention will only show areas of wind variation that are intense enough to adversely affect the pilot""s aircraft.
This invention also optimizes a travel route based on both environmental conditions information and aircraft specific information. The travel route may be optimized based on default criteria or criteria selected by the pilot, such as, for example, best fuel economy, most comfortable ride, fastest traverse of a particular region, and/or changing configuration of the aircraft. The travel route may be altered or updated by this invention based on either a request from the user or a change in either the environmental conditions or the aircraft characteristics.
In various exemplary embodiments, the systems and methods of this invention are able to produce projected dynamic vehicle information such that the status of certain of the aircraft characteristics, such as, for example, the aircraft""s weight, can be projected for at least one point along a travel route.
It should be appreciated that the embodiments described above involve displaying environmental conditions data relative to a specific aircraft. However, in various exemplary embodiments of this invention, the environmental conditions data is processed and displayed in other vehicles, such as, for example, helicopters, watercraft, hovercraft, automotive vehicles, or the like.
When the vehicle is, for example, an aircraft, the environmental conditions information may include, for example, cloud type, cloud altitude, visibility, storms, rain, precipitation, turbulence, lightning, icing, fog, volcanic ash, wind speed, wind direction, wind variation, temperature, restricted areas, or the like. It should also be appreciated that the environmental conditions information is displayed relative to each particular aircraft""s attributes, such as, for example, the physical size, weight, direction, speed, propulsion, mode of propulsion, response characteristics, performance characteristics, performance limitations, or the like of the aircraft.
When the vehicle is, for example, a watercraft, the environmental conditions information may include, for example, water temperature, water depth, water conditions, wave height, wind speed, wind direction, water current, water undercurrent data, or the like. It should also be appreciated that the environmental conditions information is displayed relative to each particular watercraft""s attributes, such as, for example, size, weight, speed, propulsion, mode of propulsion, hull design, draft, performance characteristics, response characteristics, or the like.
When the vehicle is, for example, an automotive vehicle, the environmental conditions information may include, for example, weather conditions, wind speed, wind direction, accumulated precipitation information, road conditions, grade of terrain traversed, or the like. It should also be appreciated that the environmental conditions information is displayed relative to each particular automotive vehicle""s attributes, such as, for example, two wheel or four wheel drive, gross vehicle weight, speed, height, center of gravity, or the like. If, for example, the vehicle is a tractor-trailer, the display may include wind speed and direction information so that a driver can avoid areas of crosswinds that are strong enough to tip the vehicle or force the vehicle off of a road.
Accordingly, this invention provides apparatuses, systems, and methods that present a user with a simplified environmental conditions map based on a scientific and technical analysis of both environmental conditions information and data specific to the vehicle that the user is operating.
This invention separately provides apparatuses, systems, and methods that produce a simplified, integrated, iconized map including environmental conditions information indicating the location, spatial extent, and severity of each environmental condition.
This invention separately provides apparatuses, systems, and methods that update vehicle specific data to reflect changes to the vehicle""s weight, performance characteristics, and/or configuration.
This invention separately provides apparatuses, systems, and methods that simplify the route-planning task by suggesting optimized routings based on minimizing certain parameters.
This invention separately provides apparatuses, systems, and methods that plot and/or update a travel plan using both environmental conditions information and data specific to the vehicle that the user is operating.
This invention separately provides apparatuses, systems, and methods that automatically suggest courses of travel, either prior to departure or while en route, through or around various environmental conditions based on the specific characteristics of a particular vehicle.
This invention separately provides apparatuses, systems, and methods that optimize a course around various environmental conditions based on specific criteria, such as, for example, best fuel economy, most comfortable ride, fastest traverse of a particular region, and/or changing configuration of the vehicle.
This invention separately provides apparatuses, systems, and methods that can be used prior to departure or onboard a vehicle to interpret weather and/or environment data that is transmitted or broadcast to the vehicle.
This invention separately provides apparatuses, systems, and methods that provide the user with improved situational awareness of hazards to the user""s specific vehicle.
This invention separately provides apparatuses, systems, and methods that improve safety by reducing the impact of adverse environment conditions on a specific vehicle.
This invention separately provides apparatuses, systems, and methods that produce timely and useful alerts, as well as transmit additional alerts if the environmental conditions change.
These and other features and advantages of this invention are described in or are apparent from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments.